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MTA cracks down on Staten Island bus fare beaters

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Ed Huntley, who drives the S44 between the Staten Island Mall and the St. George Ferry Terminal, noted it has been like "night and day" since the Eagle Team arrived on his bus.
(Staten Island Advance/Michael Secon)

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The MTA, tired of getting sand kicked in its face by bus fare beaters, has sent some muscle to Staten Island to choke off crimes that cost the city nearly $90 million last year.

The agency's so-called Eagle Team has landed here and in a month's time has issued nearly $100,000 in fines to bus scofflaws, said Kevin Ortiz, an MTA spokesman.

"It's been a lot better since they've been here," said Daniel Cassella, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union 726, noting the team operates undercover -- unbeknownst to even bus drivers -- and alters its strategy in order to "keep everybody off guard."

Since June 10, the Eagle Team issued 927 $100 Transit Adjudication Bureau summonses to fare beaters, as well as 705 warnings and 1,496 assists (stopping people from boarding through the back entrance and redirecting them to the front, past the fare box), Ortiz said.

Although the team's activities are random, and unknown to the bus drivers or any others outside of their ranks, Ortiz did say they have been focusing on "hot areas" that involve high numbers of fare evasion and also other reported crimes such as assaults on MTA employees, vandalism or other crimes.

Not all of the numbers are in, but the MTA has calculated some of the Eagle Team's impact. Before their arrival 19 percent of S44 riders were beating the fare, and a month later it is estimated that only 5.8 percent of those riders are now not paying, according to Ortiz. The other routes the MTA had information on were the S74 where fare evasion has decreased to 13.3 percent of riders from 15 percent and the S78 from 12 percent to 10 percent.

Ed Huntley, who drives the S44 between the Staten Island Mall and the St. George Ferry Terminal, noted it has been like "night and day" since the Eagle Team arrived on his bus.

"It's a huge difference," Huntley said. "At least maybe 15 or 20 people a trip didn't pay on that particular trip. Now when they boarded the bus and gave out a few tickets-- probably four or five tickets-- that same trip the next day every single person paid."

Huntley said the spectacle of the Eagle Team removing fare beaters right on the spot spurred passengers to take to their cell phones conveying what they just witnessed.

"Before they were 10 feet away from the bus people were already on the phones and the word was getting out," Huntley said. "Where [the Eagle Team] has been seen on those routes, everybody's paying. The word is out."

There are 48 Eagle Team officers operating on the Island, and they travel undercover in groups of at least 6, Cassella said. Their random patrols span all shifts and hours. Not even the drivers know if or when the Eagle Team will be riding their bus, until fare beaters start piling on. In fact, team members get on, pay using their MetroCards and sit quietly waiting.

"Nowhere is the driver involved with any of these situations; we have no control over what buses they ride, and we don't know they're on," Cassella said. "And the driver has nothing to do with saying whether they paid or not."

The Eagle Team watches the fare box to see who pays and who doesn't, and if someone tries using a spend MetroCard or a card with only a partial payment left on it, the fare box lets out a distinctive beep that alerts the squad of a scofflaw's entry on the bus.

After it is clear that someone is not paying and attempts to exit, the team shows their badges, stops the bus and removes the offenders, which could be several at a time, Cassella said.

So far the operations have not caused any delays to paying passengers, as the bus is only briefly stopped and continues on its route, and usually an "unmarked vehicle" follows the bus so multiple offenders can be loaded up and taken away, Cassella said.

"Just like the undercover guys get on, and they watch, and they see who doesn't pay their fare, the paying customers see," Huntley said. "They see the same thing. They see people not paying, and it's probably frustrating for them."

Dennis Clancy of West Brighton has been frustrated in the past as he watched countless people beat the fare boxes on the S40 and S44, which he rides somewhat regularly.

"It's really getting out of hand, and it turns into bigger issues," Clancy said, referring to assaults on bus drivers in the past. "There could be violence."

Cassella agreed that most of the assaults on bus drivers has stemmed from fare beating.

The presence of the Eagle Team takes any confrontation of bus driver versus fare beater out of the mix.

Clancy has suggested in the past that NYPD officers already patrolling the St. George Ferry Terminal could help the Eagle Team by instantly nabbing fare beaters.

MTA Board member Allen Cappelli noted the Eagle Team received a financial boost in last year's budget to capture this revenue hemorrhaging from the system and draining transit services.

"As part of our service restorations last year we put extra money in to beef up the Eagle Team," Cappelli said. "It's not fair to the law abiding public to have their services impacted by those who refuse to pay."